


Rose-Tinted

by xanam



Series: Themes Challenge #1 [3]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Alternate Universe - Middle School, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Canon Universe, Domestic Fluff, First Meetings, Fluff, Human Astral, Other, Post-Canon, Self-Reflection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-09 05:20:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16443647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xanam/pseuds/xanam
Summary: A short series of keyshipping oneshots, written for nanowrimo 2017.





	1. Introduction

Nervous.

Nervous was the only way he could describe himself right now, looking around the room and seeing faces he barely recognised, people he’d had hardly any time to get to know... And yet here, here he was, surrounded by all these new faces and expected to pick someone to go on the school trip with already!

He’d barely had time to learn everyone’s names yet, let alone make friends with anyone well enough to want to pair up with them... Kotori had already grabbed one of the other girls as her trip partner, damn her.

And where was Tetsuo? Yuma was sure he’d seen him around here somewhere, the only other person he knew... A glimpse of him, at the other side of the room. Who was that he was stood with? Damn, some random guy he barely recognised who usually sat at the other side of the room... Seriously?!

He hit his head off the desk. Starting in a new school was hard.

Anyone? Anywhere? There had to be someone here without a partner yet, someone who would be willing to deal with him for the duration of this trip... A weekend trip, in a brand new school, a brand new set of people, what was the teacher even thinking here?

 _‘No, this is a good thing, I think...'_ he mused to himself. Making new friends was always a good thing, right? Yuma loved making new friends, having new people he could spend time with, share stories of his weekend, his hobbies and interests, hold long conversations with into the night...

Not that he had that right now - it had been a good few years since he and Kotori had experienced that level of friendship and Tetsuo had never really been that close. It wasn’t really that surprising that both his friends had already found other people to work with, annoying as it was.

So, what now? Who should he be pairing up with? Was there an even number of students going on the trip in the first place, or would he end up the odd one out here, unable to find anybody else to work with on this?

Silver-haired girl by the door? No, she was already talking to somebody... They looked like they’d already agreed to work together.

Orange-haired guy at the back? Nope, already sitting with somebody.

Every way he turned, people around him already seemed to have chosen somebody to spend the weekend trip away with, a friend to spend their time with easily.

But him? No, he was only beginning to feel nauseated at this whole thing.

Maybe if he really was the only one left, the teacher would just let him join Kotori and her friend or something? It was worth a shot...

A flash of blue past his shoulder caught his eye and he froze.

Wait... That guy over there! Was he already working with somebody? Yuma had noticed him a few times in class, always attentive to whatever the teacher was saying, taking vigourous notes as if expecting to be asked sudden questions at gunpoint... In other words, a complete and utter nerd. Nobody seemed to bother with speaking to him, instead leaving him to remain immersed in his books and studies...

Surely he didn’t already have a partner for the trip...

Was that an unfair thing to think? It’s not like Yuma knew him or anything, he could’ve got him figured out completely wrong. After all, he didn’t even know this guy’s name...

Piercing yellow eyes suddenly met his, and he found himself faltering just as he’d been about to step forwards. Damn, what was he meant to do now?!

 _‘Just say something, you idiot!’ h_ e scolded himself, watching as he walked over towards him, completely catching him off guard. Oh, he was doing something himself!

“Uhh...”

_‘Good job, Yuma. Sure nailed that one.”_

Yeesh... He was probably gonna fake a trip partner just to get out of being stuck with him, at this rate. Yuma cleared his throat before trying again.

“Hi, do you have a partner for this trip yet?”

There... Much better. If the blue haired guy had noticed anything odd about the way Yuma was acting right now he had opted to be merciful, choosing not to point this out and instead giving him an easy answer.

“No, I do not... If I’m honest, I haven’t bothered to look. People in this class seem to know each other well enough already to have their groups planned out from the very start. I do not know anybody here well enough to come to such conclusions of my own.”

That was an... Interesting way of looking at it. A sigh of relief.

This would do. This would definitely do. Hopefully he wasn’t annoying or weird... This could be the solution to both their problems right here.

“Oh, great!” His eyes lit up. “I don’t have a partner yet either.. I guess it’s settled, then! Fancy coming on the trip with me?”

He shrugged lightly, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t think there’s really a choice here, is there? You seem to be the only person left, after all.”

Yuma spluttered.

“H-hey! That’s not nice!”

“Why? I was only stating a fact. I never said that pairing up with you would be a bad thing, either.”

“...Oh. That’s true.” He huffed, placing his hands on his hips with a pout. “Still, you didn’t have to say it like that!”

He laughed slightly, before nodding in his direction. “I’m sorry, I don’t believe I remember your name... That is probably rather important if we are to be spending time together this weekend.”

“It’s Yuma.” He held out a hand for a handshake, which the other accepted, albeit reluctantly. “I don’t know your name, either.”

A pause as the other let go of his hand, pushing a loose strand of hair away from his face. Actually, looking more closely at him, this guy was actually... Kinda cute?

_‘Stop focusing on stuff like that, idiot.’_

“I’m Astral.” He introduced after a brief moment, Yuma snapping out of his thoughts as he made a mental note of the name.

“Astral... Well, nice to meet you, Astral! I hope we can be friends!”

“We shall see...” Astral looked back towards the front of the class, eyes roaming as he looked for something (The teacher, perhaps?). He pulled up a chair, sitting down before drawing the one next to him a bit closer. “For now, we should probably sit down and wait to hear what is happening.”

...Yup, definitely a nerd. A cute nerd, but a nerd regardless. Yuma sat down, jabbing him playfully in the shoulder. He was going to make a new friend, damn it!

“So, come on! Tell me about yourself!”

“There will be time for that later, will there not?”

“Oh, come on! I wanna know if we have anything in common, y’know? Here, I’ll go first. Rice balls are my favourite food. You?”

Astral’s brow crinkled in thought, the sight of him actually humouring Yuma a relief.

“I have not thought much on the subject,” He said.

“You don’t think about many subjects, do you..?”

Astral must’ve picked up on the irritation in his voice, elaborating hastily.

“Rice balls are very good, however. I am not a particularly picky eater, if I am honest.”

“So you’re not gonna suggest crappy snacks on the trip, good!”He beamed, motioning for him to continue. “Now it’s your go to ask me something.”

“Are you always this persistent?”

“Hey, that doesn’t count!”

“Answer the question, Yuma.”

“Fine...” He folded his arms. “Look, I wanna be your friend... We’ve not really talked before, but if we’re going on this trip together then I want us to get along. You seem nice enough, y’know? So yeah, I’m gonna be persistent, if that’s what it’ll take!”

There was a pause.

Astral laughed.

“You seem stubborn regarding this subject... But I do not see how forcing questions such as this will serve the purpose you intend. It will be interesting to see how this trip turns out, and if you insist... I guess it may not be a bad thing to become your friend.

“You know it!” Yuma grinned.

He couldn’t deny that befriending Astral really did seem like a nice idea... Someone new to spend time in class with was rare, and it’d be great to see if they could find anything in common.

“...Do you like duel monsters?” He asked after a moment, before he could space out any more. Astral merely scoffed at the question.

“Naturally. It is rare to find someone who doesn’t, is it not?”

“Well, yeah, I guess...” Yuma said sheepishly, part of him wishing he’d asked something else. “B-but it was worth asking anyway! You any good at it?”

“That is subjective... One’s skill in the game is proven by how they do against another, correct?”

Damn, this guy was being annoyingly technical right now! Was there really any need for this? Yuma groaned to himself, trying to remember that he was meant to be trying to befriend him.

“Well, maybe we should duel sometime? It’d be cool to see just how good you are for myself.”

“I have no issue with that.” He nodded. “I will remember to pack my deck tomorrow with the rest of my things for the trip. Make sure you also remember to do so.”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that!”

As if he wasn’t going to bring his deck into school anyway! He pulled it from his pocket, showing Astral proudly.

“I brought it in with me, always do! You never know when someone might challenge you to a duel, after all!”

Sure, he’d not had many chances to duel people at school before... Tetsuo did occasionally, but he usually found that kind of frustrating. Tetsuo was just too good, he’d never managed to get a win against him... But he’d manage it soon, he just knew it! Duelling was still something he found fun, something that brought him joy... Even if others didn’t always see it!

“May I see?” Astral held out his hands, and Yuma obliged, a cheeky grin on his face. Aww man, Astral was gonna love this! He’d put that together over the years, always looking out for cards that caught his eye, holding onto anything he looked back at fondly from the duels he and his dad would have when he was little...

“-This is... Interesting.”

“Huh?” Yuma blinked, turning his attention towards Astral again. “What do you mean?”

“Well...” Astral took in a deep breath, and Yuma’s eyebrows furrowed. Did he not like it or something..?

“It is not the sort of deck I would’ve picked out, if it was me-”

“-But everyone has different taste, right?”

“...I suppose so.” Astral gave him a smile that was obviously forced. “Perhaps you can make good use out of it that I would not have previously considered. I will look forward to seeing what kind of strategy you have.”

“Heh, you’d better!”Good enough. Yuma struck a pose, trying not to laugh. “I’m really great. You won’t expect it!”

“That is what I like to hear.” His smile shifted to something that seemed a little more genuine, and Yuma decided that he liked that sight, and that he would like to see more of it.

That was when the teacher called to them all again, and everyone’s attention jolted back to the front of the classroom, though there was obviously still plenty of quiet idle chatter throughout the room. Astral, meanwhile, was giving the teacher his full attention, eye never straying from the front. Yuma poked his shoulder with a roll of his eyes, meeting the other’s for a brief second.

“Hey... This was nice. Talk with you more tomorrow then, right? No escaping me, now!”

Astral’s attention returned to the teacher with barely any hesitation, but Yuma didn’t miss the small smile that returned to his face, if only for the briefest of moments.

Even if this ended up being difficult, Yuma got the feeling that this was going to be good.


	2. Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaand here's the second one! Last one will be up tomorrow!

****Silence filled the Tsukumo house.

Tranquility, peace... Haru was fast asleep, deciding to sleep early today after a long day.

Akari was busy typing up her latest scoop on her laptop, opting to stay in the comfort of her own room rather than using the computer downstairs, sat with a cup of tea and in her pyjamas.

Kazuma and Mirai were sat downstairs, watching a movie with the volume on low and in comfortable silence.

Obomi was around the back of the house, sweeping up the garden with no more noise than a few cheery beeps, paying no heed to the birds hurrying away in panic as the robot got close.

Truly a relaxing evening, a perfect end to the day... That was until, of course, Yuma had to ruin it as always.

“Gah!”

Astral blinked as Yuma threw down his controller with a huff, folding his arms and sulking from his position on the floor, sat on some old intricate-looking box that Astral could only assume was from Kazuma and Mirai’s past adventures.

“Stupid game...”

“What exactly happened?” Astral asked curiously, leaning forward as he peered at the television screen, trying to piece together Yuma’s annoyance. In all honesty he had not been paying that much attention, instead spending his time wondering when Yuma would relinquish control of the TV and allow him time to watch Esper-Robin. Even if it was only reruns being aired right now, the show never stopped being engaging and missing it four nights in a row would be rather undesirable...

“It’s this stupid duelling game!” Yuma huffed, picking up his controller again then pointing roughly at the screen. “I’ve lost this duel five times in a row, now! The AI is too smart, it’s unfair... And I need to get past this boss in five turns or less to unlock secret content...” He slumped back on the box before hitting a button on the controller and staring at the screen once again, determination setting in his face again.

“Right... I’ve got this...”

“I can help, if you ask...” Astral pointed out. “Although I admit, I do not quite understand the point in duelling in a simulation like this... What goal is it you are trying to reach here, exactly?” He looked at the hand Yuma had drawn on-screen. “The deck you are using does not even appear to be your own... what benefit does this provide?”

“It’s not about simulating duels or whatever,” He explained, rolling his eyes. “It’s just a different kind of game. Video games are meant to be fun and challenging, and most of them tell a story...”

“A story?” Astral found himself intrigued. “Like Esper-Robin?”

“Kinda...” He pointed at the screen again, less aggressively this time. “I’m not using my deck because I didn’t get to choose that, it’s the main character’s deck.”

“Main character?”

“Yeah.” He grinned. “Her name’s Emi, and she’s trying to save her friends who went missing after this really weird storm... She’s got a pretty mixed deck and uses a lot of fairy monsters... It’s hard to get used to, but she’s a pretty badass character.”

He sighed, looking at the card he had drawn and seeing another trap card.

“This card is really crap though... Damn, I really wanna just beat this boss already! Any ideas?”

Astral took a moment to absorb this new information, before nodding.

“I do not know the intelligence of this game opponent, but I suggest you leave that card in your hand for now. Your opponent’s current monsters do not seem like they will pose too much of a threat, but that could be useful later-”

“But he’s gonna XYZ summon in a second! Watch, he’ll special-summon another level seven in a second, you'll see...”

Astral watched the screen, finding himself rather amused at the sight of a duel portrayed in such a dramatic yet flat way like this. There was a flash of light on the screen complete with sound effects while Yuma screeched in frustration. “See?! There it is! I just can’t beat this damn thing!”

“You will get there.” Astral folded his arms. “Clearly you have an idea of how this duel typically goes. Surely that means you will be able to figure out how best to counter it soon.”

“Well yeah, maybe...” He shrugged. “Still, I need to draw the right cards for it...” He paused the game, pressing another button before switching off his games console. “I’ve saved the game, I’m just gonna leave it for now... Since you’re not being useful, I guess I’ll just think on it more for later...”

“I am merely encouraging you to learn this for yourself...” Astral said.

Still, he could not understand why Yuma continued to insist he play this game. He did not seem to be enjoying himself, only getting frustrated with this ‘boss’ duel and quitting regardless.

“Why do you still want to play this game?” He asked after finally deciding it would be worth asking. “You do not look to be having much fun with it.”Yuma’s jaw dropped.

“Hey, that’s not it at all! I am having fun! I just need more practise, that’s all... Besides, I need to see how Emi’s story turns out! I’ve been trying to avoid spoilers for this game and even Kotori’s further ahead than me... She knows something about the ending that I don’t!”His brow seemed to crinkle in thought, an amusing sight indeed.

“Hey, come to think of it... I’m sure I saw Kotori use a few of the same cards back when we had that friendship games tournament with Shingetsu... Well, Vector I mean. Has she been practising or something? Aww, man, I should really ask her to duel me sometime...”

Yuma was going off on a tangent and Astral found himself instead trying to piece this together for himself. So, Yuma simply wanted to see how her story would progress? That seemed like an interesting reason to find something like this fun... He supposed it made sense, though. He was always the kind of person to find fun in places Astral hadn’t thought of.

“Have you been satisfied with the events of the game so far, then?” Astral asked. “It is strange, I have never seen you play this before, up until a few days ago... I am used to seeing you want to duel your friends all the time rather than duelling your TV.”

Yuma laughed rather loudly at his reaction.

“Yeah, it’s cool! The characters are good, I’m slowly getting used to this deck, and I can’t wait to see how Emi handles the rest of this stuff...”

He seemed really fixated on this protagonist. He let out a small hum and Yuma looked back at him with a huff.

“Hey, what’s gotten into you, anyway? You jealous or somethin’? Yeesh, it’s just a video game, am I not allowed to find people cool any more?”

“I do not know what you are talking about.”

Maybe Yuma was right, it did sound rather silly when he put it like that...Acting jealous had not been his intention, but perhaps he needed to watch the way he said things more carefully. Yuma stared at him with a look that blatantly gave away that he didn’t believe him, before changing the subject.

“Idiot... Anyway, the reason I haven’t played this before is ‘cus it only came out a few days ago. I preordered it, got it in the mail a day late... But now that’s out of the way, I’m really glad I got it! I love it!”-

“I see...” Astral nodded. “Does this mean you will be duelling others less frequently from now on? Is this what you will be replacing it with?”

“W-what?! That’s not how it works at all! Do you not have any hobbies or something, Astral?”

“...Hobbies..?”

Yuma groaned loudly.

“Are you kidding me right now?! Man, we need to change that!” He tossed Astral his controller, only to wince as it passed right through him. “Damn, forgot you can’t pick that up... Well, that puts the game out of the question, I guess. Hey, Astral, what kinda stuff do you love anyway?”

Astral stared at Yuma, confused. What kind of question was that? A rather strange thing to ask.

“You,” He responded, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and wondering what kind of relevance that had. Of course he loved Yuma, what other kind of answer was he expecting?

Yuma’s face turned bright red as he stumbled, trying to find a response to that.

“T-that wasn’t what I meant!” He blurted, refusing to look at him directly. Regardless, Astral couldn’t help but notice the small grin tugging at his lips at hearing that. “I was meaning the stuff you like doing! Stuff that makes you happy!”

Astral opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off right away by the other.

“-And you can’t say spending time with me or any other mushy bullshit like that, got it?!”

It was amusing how easily embarrassed Yuma was, especially when it hadn’t even been his intention to illicit such a reaction. It was incredible what a simple misunderstanding could result in, and he couldn’t help but laugh. Yuma shot him a pout, cheeks still slightly tinged with pink.

“Stop laughing at me and just answer the question...” His expression turned slightly more serious. “Damn, it’s weird to think that I don’t know the answer to that, though... We’ve gone through so much together and thinking about it, I don’t really know that much about you, huh...”

That thought seemed to sadden the other, and Astral hurriedly tried to think of what to say in order to fix that particular issue.

“I don’t think that is quite it...” Astral hummed in thought. “I may have remembered my mission over time, but my memories of my past in Astral World are still rather vague... Even then, I do not believe I spent much time trying to be happy. My mission was always of the highest priority both to me and to Eliphas, and you know how insistent he was that I did not get ‘tainted’ by chaos... Any time I may have spent trying to have fun will have been severely limited, I believe.”

Yuma nodded slowly, face falling at that.

“Damn... Now I kinda wish it was just me not knowing you that well... That must really suck.”

Astral shrugged. “It does not bother me.” He smiled. “I am just happy that I get to spend this time with you and your friends now. I am sure I can find other things that will bring me joy.”

“Right!” Yuma seemed to brighten at that thought. “Any idea where you wanna start with that? I mean, you can try this game if you want... Using ZeXal to play would probably be a bit too much, but I could always hold the controller and let you tell me what actions you wanna do in the game?”

It was a simple suggestion, starting out with the basics of what they had in front of them and although Astral wasn't sure he was quite as invested in the story of this Emi person, he could tell this probably meant Yuma wanted to try to find him a ‘hobby’ as quickly as possible. That was... Rather sweet of him. Yuma was always kind like this, so it wasn’t that unusual, of course.

“I am not sure that is what I want to do...” He hummed in thought. “However, I would be happy to try to find something with you. As long as we go through it together, I can promise you that it will make me happy.”He eyed the clock. “I suggest we look for ‘hobbies’ tomorrow, however. It is getting late and you have school tomorrow. There is no point in having to into school while tired out, you will only become grouchy.”

Yuma shot him a glare.

“No I won’t!” At the look on Astral's face (a flat expression showing he clearly didn’t believe that for even a second), he huffed, moving towards his hammock with a dejected sigh. “Okay fine, you’re right... Sleep is important...” Lying down, he glanced over at Astral again. “We’ll find you something you’ll love a lot, got that? You don’t need it to be something I like either, it’s important you let yourself be your own person! I’ll get the others involved too, I’m sure they’d love the idea of finding you something new to get excited about!”

Yuma’s eagerness to find him something to make him happy truly warmed Astral’s heart. Yuma didn’t need to do this for him... And yet here he was, doing it anyway. Always going out of his way to do such nice things for others... And whatever Yuma liked, Astral should make sure he took some interest in it, too.

“Later on tomorrow, after we have done that as you specified, I think I would like to look at your game some more. This ‘Emi’ sounds like she could have an interesting story.”

Yuma grinned.

“I knew you couldn’t stay away from it! Heh, maybe you can help me get past this boss...”

He seemed happy with Astral’s choice... Good, that was exactly what he had been hoping for.

“If you say so... Thank you, Yuma.”

“Hey, don’t go thanking me yet, we haven’t even found you a hobby so far!” Yuma turned over in his hammock so he wasn’t facing him, but Astral knew he was most likely hiding a smile.


	3. Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last one!

“Hey, sis?” 

A small Yuma Tsukumo peered over the covers of his bed, eyes wide with fright. His sister sighed, returning to the room from her place in the doorway.

“Yeah, what is it?” She sat down on his bed, watching his expression as he shrunk deeper into his covers.

“I’m kinda scared... I don’t like the dark...”

“Yeah, I know.” She nodded. “But you said you weren’t scared of this stuff any more, right? Kattobingu and all that.”

Yuma nodded. “Yeah! But I still want something to get rid of the dark... I can be brave and still want a way to fight it!”

“You already had a story tonight,” she pointed out. “You don’t want more, do you?”

It was obvious that she really didn’t want to tell more, but that wasn’t what he wanted either. Yuma shook his head, glancing at the door again.

“No... We still have that nightlight, right?”

Akari blinked. “What, that old crap?” She winced as she noticed her own language in front of her kid brother, before nodding. “Yeah, I think so... Why now?”

He shrugged. “Just a bit creeped out tonight, I guess... I don’t feel good.”

“Sure, then... One second, let me get it. I’ll leave the light on for now... Wuss.” She let out a quiet laugh as she walked out of the room and he was left to wait for her to bring back his old light.

That nightlight really did help him out. Whenever he felt sick, or paranoid, or just generally had a bad day... he’d bring out the nightlight, and things didn’t seem as bad any more. He had something to watch him, to scare away the dark, to make everything much more manageable. Not much made him feel like that as he grew older, and eventually he was able to sleep without the light at all, simply embracing his dreams and excitement for the next day.

That wasn’t to say everything was perfect,  _ especially  _ as his life became more complicated, less childlike. Astral’s introduction to his life, duelling for their lives, the barians... And everybody else who wanted to kill them.

_ Kattobingu _ , he always thought determinedly, powering through it no matter what.  **_Kattobingu_ ** _. I can do this. I won’t let my friends down. I won’t let  _ **_Astral_ ** _ down. _

_ I can do anything I set my mind to. I’m strong enough. _

But admittedly, things could get hard. Watching Shark make a heel-faced turn, becoming Nasch and hurting so many of their friends... Watching his friends get torn down one by one, with no chance to win... Something that hurt - a lot.

_ It’s okay. We’ve got this. We’ll save them all... Right? _

There was no time to ponder, no time to worry, no time to even sleep. Straight into battle, duelling with all they had with the intent to win, to save them all.

And they did. Everything hurt throughout, especially as Astral seemed to turn against him, ready to duel him for a final time before packing up, hurting more of his friends and leaving.

_ No, silly! See, he was just trying to get you to duel with all you had! He didn’t want you to cry! It’s all fine, now, and you’ll see him again! _

His faith always rewarded him. His strength, his belief in others... It worked, and it was something he was eternally grateful for.

But still, fears and bad memories persisted. They remained no matter how much time passed him by, things he wished he didn’t have to deal with. Things he was almost  _ ashamed  _ to still feel sadness over, as if he wasn’t strong enough, that he was weak and should be handling this better.

The looks on the faces of his friends as they were taken from him. Shark’s betrayal. Shingetsu’s betrayal. The intense anger Astral had felt, aimed directly at him, forcing him to remember all of his mistakes.

All was okay now. Things were good. Even with Astral living in Astral World again now, he still took the time to see him, to spend time together as they always had but with less life or death situations on their hands for once...  _ Usually _ .

In fact, it just so happened that Astral was here right now to witness him crashing down from his hammock with an alarmed yelp. His face snapped towards Yuma, alarm written all over it as he swooped down.

“Yuma, what did you do?!”

“Ah...” He chuckled awkwardly. “Sorry, I’ve just had a lot of thoughts going through my mind recently... Kinda hard to sleep.”

He looked out the window, suddenly feeling very aware of how dark it was outside. Was he still weak for being afraid of the dark in situations like this, when his mind was plagued by every bad thing that could happen, every bad thing that  _ had  _ happened? Was he weak for even thinking of such things?

He turned from his window to look around the room, eyes settling on Astral.

At least it wasn’t so dark in here right now. Astral let out a faint, soothing glow around his room that did wonders in reminding him that he wasn’t alone, that no matter what, things were okay now and they could continue to be so. Astral didn’t even give off as much light as his nightlight, but his presence was far more of a comfort, much more solid despite how intangible he was on Earth, far more likely to be able to stop anything that may hurt him.

“Can you stay out here tonight..?” He asked quietly, barely more than a murmur. Astral gave him a confused look.

“Can you repeat that?” I did not hear you.

“Stay here,” He said, slightly louder and feeling awkward for it. “I’m sorry, it probably sounds dumb, but it’s nice to have you here, I guess...”

Astral took a moment to process this before nodding.

“I can do that, Yuma. I am not too sure what you are worrying about right now, but if you do not want to talk about it right now, that is also okay.”

He let out a relieved sigh.

“Phew... Thanks for that, I owe you one.”

“One of what?”

A faint laugh.

“Never mind...”

Now and then, he would call Astral a nightlight as a joking insult, but honestly? He was far better than that, anyway. He was here, he was real, and Yuma couldn’t be any more grateful for that. Astral was his light and even though they had their disagreements sometimes, he knew that there would always be hope shining through the darkness, always be there to keep his fears at bay.

Yuma was brave, even if he didn’t always see it. It was okay to be scared, sometimes.

**Author's Note:**

> Hellooooooo! It's been a while since I did anything at all in terms of the zexal fandom, and I've moved on since then, so more later is unlikely. However, since I had a pretty shitty November last year, I decided it could be a good idea to finally upload the three oneshots I finished last time round! I'm publishing these with the amount of editing they had after I originally did them, and I'm hoping to get a bigger word count on my new stuff this year. I hope they're enjoyable, and comments are appreciated if so! <3


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